mushroom and rocket baskets

 Today we had our usual zoom meeting and the only person who joined was Mark.

So for the first time in a long time, we had a one on one cooking session. First we made some cheesey Lavash that went into the oven with cinnamon and sugar biscuits to warm up the oven. When the oven was hot, we put in both a loaf of bread and a tray of mushroom and rocket baskets. We had them with rice and salad but in future I don't think we need rice. The baskets with a piece of blue cheese and sweet chilli jam and a salad was a lovely light meal.

Filo pastry “baskets” with mushroom and rocket

 

Prep 1hour | 8 servings | VG/VE

 

Ingredients:

·      12 sheets of filo pastry (6+6)

·      500 gr chestnut mushrooms

·      50 gr rocket

·      2 sticks of celery 

·      150 gr rice/soy single cream (or regular single cream)

·      1 tbs chopped parsley

·      1 tbs chopped walnuts

·      1 tbs nutritional yeast 

·      1 clove garlic

 

Method:

 

Filling:

1.     Clean well and cut the mushrooms, mince the celery. 

2.     In a frying pan, fry gently the garlic in olive oil until golden, then add celery and a pinch of salt and cook for a few minutes. 

3.     Add the mushrooms and cook at medium heat until their natural water dries up and the mushrooms look golden

4.     Add the cream, parsley and nutritional yeast and cook again for one minute

5.     Turn off the hob and add the rocket as last ingredient

 

“Baskets”:

 

6.     Lay a sheet of filo pastry at a time, brushing each with some water and/or olive oil, then cover with the next until 6 are piled. Repeat for the other 6 sheets.

7.     Cut with a knife 4 squares of about 12cmx12cm from each layered sheet, for a total of 8 squares.

8.     Place each square in one muffin mould, previously brushed with oil.

9.     Fill each basket with the mushroom filling, sprinkle on top the dust of walnuts.

 

Cooking:

10.  Cook in static oven at 180ºC for 25 minutes, until the pastry will look golden and crispy. Serve warm. 

 

Wild Garlic and potato soup with coriander soda bread

 Today we made wild garlic and potato soup with coriander soda bread

Brussels Sprouts with peanut sauce and Butternut Tai Soup

Today we started by sowing our first seeds. Some to eat as sprouts and some for transplanting and harvesting later in the year.

We sprouted Sunflower seeds and Cress for use in salads in the weeks to come.
During the year we harvested seeds from a variety of  tomatoes and  peppers,  dried the seeds and today we planted mini mini red and mini mini yellow tomatoes (bottom right) as well as the orange mini pear tomatoes. We are pre-germinating them to make sure the seeds are viable. Once they germinate, they will be transferred to soil. For now they will stay on a damp paper towel, in the little cream cheese container.
  

We planted the cress on paper too but the sunflower seeds were left soaking in a jar of water.


        

After the sowing we made some peanut butter to use for the peanut sauce that we were going to use with the brussles sprouts.  Asako and Sayaka had never had Brussels Sprouts before, but Asako's children had encountered them at a play day. They were not impressed with this 'new' vegetable and begged her never to buy it.  Well.... the plan has changed. After eating these fried brussels with cranberries and peanut sauce, the vegetables are on next week's shopping list. They went down very well with all of us.



We also made a tasty and hearty Butternut Thai  soup perfect for this cold but lovely day which we shared with `Mark and Sorrel.